We’re super excited to introduce the culinary professionals that will be part of our 2018 outreach trip. They are one amazing group! Please read on for bios after the jump.
Aimee Bariteau lives in Cambridge, MA. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, this will mark Aimee’s sixth trip with the organization, and fourth as its trip leader. Aimee is also a ten-year breast cancer survivor, and was selected in 2014 as a Model of Courage for Ford Warriors in Pink. Her Oreo-studded chocolate chip cookies are magical.
Thomas Medrow started out in the finance world at JP Morgan Chase, but made a career change when his passion for food could no longer be ignored. Thomas graduated with honors from The French Culinary Institute. A founding board member of CulinaryCorps, he is also the Executive Sous Chef at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the 2017 World Champion Philadelphia Eagles. In addition to feeding the football team, Thomas is oversees culinary operations for all 180 game-day luxury boxes, catering and staff feedings for over 500 game-day staff. This marks his sixth trip with the organization and his fifth as part of the Trip Leadership team. He lives in Wilmington, DE with his wife Heather and two sous chefs, 6 year old Erin and 3 year old Tommy.
Jessica Botta resides in Washington DC where she is director of culinary development for Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants. Jessica previously taught Italian cuisine at the International Culinary Center (aka French Culinary Institute) and has appeared on Iron Chef America where she competed with Chef Cesare Casella. She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier’s DC chapter, where she chairs the grants committee. This trip marks Jessica’s third volunteer trip to Camp Sunshine and her seventh with CulinaryCorps. In her free time, Jessica enjoys exploring Rock Creek Park with her German wire-haired pointer, Jack of Hearts, and making pasta.
Jeremy Kohn was born and raised in Queens. He’s been working in the restaurant business since he was 15 years old getting his start as a soda jerk at Johnny Rockets. He graduated from Johnson and Wales University studying culinary arts and food service management. Jeremy is currently the Executive Sous Chef at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Dantee Arias is a CulinaryCorps Camp Sunshine Alumni; volunteering in 2013 and 2014. He is currently in the tech hospitality industry working as a customer support manager at Tock, a platform that connects customers with reservations at some of the best restaurants in the world. He has been the General Manager at Google Chicago’s Food Program for a number of years and is a dim sum enthusiast. In his spare time, he volunteers at Blue Sky Bakery, an organization that offers transitional employment to homeless and at-risk youth.
Meg Jordan is originally a New Jersey native and spent eight years in Boston working in the corporate world of advertising. After losing a family member to cancer in 2016, Meg decided to pursue her lifelong dream of entering the culinary field. After graduating from the Boston University Culinary Arts Certificate program in the fall of 2017, she transitioned to a role working in the culinary test kitchen at SharkNinja. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, visiting new restaurants, and trying to burn off some of the amazing food she eats at SoulCycle.
Olivia Rick grew up cooking with her mother on her family’s homestead in rural Minnesota. After receiving her B.A in International Relations from the University of Minnesota, she moved out west and where she decided to get hands on culinary training. She cooked her way through Maui, HI and eventually moved to San Francisco where she worked at Gather restaurant in Berkeley, CA. Currently, she’s an event planner and manager with a large scale catering company in the Bay Area. For over 8 years, she has been a culinary instructor with Cooking Matters, a program that educates children and families about the importance of healthy food, sustainable ecosystems, and self-reliant communities. In her free time she enjoys singing karaoke as often as socially acceptable.
Kevin Cordeiro grew up in Queens, New York . Kevin attended Johnson and Wales University in Providence Rhode Island where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Culinary Arts right after high school. Since then he has been pursuing his passion for culinary arts. Kevin has since spent his time working around New York City in various Private Clubs such as The New York Athletic Club, Forest Hills Tennis Club and his current role as the Executive Sous Chef at The Century Association. This will be Kevin’s first trip with the Culinary Corps team.
Darrell Hunter grew up in New York City . He attended The Culinary Institute of Long Island, a branch of The Starr Culinary Academy, and was a cook at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Currently, he is a line cook at the Olde Trading Post in New York. In his spare time, he is a dedicated volunteer for God’s Love We Deliver in NYC.
Viviana Acosta Padial participated in her first CulinaryCorps trip in June 2007. Since then, she has returned as a trusted co-leader on three subsequent trips to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast as well as the lead project coordinator for the 2010 trip to her home country, Puerto Rico.. A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan, Viviana worked as a food journalist in the United States before moving back to her hometown of San Juan to work full-time as a chef in Puerto Rico. She helped to write, recipe-test and food-style Chef Wilo Benet’s latest cookbook, The Flavors of Puerto Rico. Viviana currently runs her own catering company, Gastropolita, in San Juan.